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Afghanistan
Panetta apologizes for US troops 'desecrating' suicide bomber's corpses
2012-04-20
U.S. Secretary Of Defense Leon Panetta has issued an apology for photos that appear to show soldiers posing with dead Afghans, Reuters reports. Panetta called the behavior "foolish" and "unacceptable."

The Los Angeles Times released the pictures on Wednesday, which were given to the paper by an American soldier "on the condition of anonymity."

"This is war, and I know war is ugly, and is violent. And I know young people sometimes caught up in the moment make some very foolish decisions," Panetta told a news conference during a meeting of NATO allies in Brussels. "I am not excusing that."

He added: "My apology is on behalf of the Department of Defense and the U.S. government ... Again, that behaviour is unacceptable."
Gen Pershing was unavailable for comment.
Posted by:Huparong Angoper9812

#9  FYI ION LEON + PUTTING-ON-THE-NOT-RITZ-BRITS, CHINESE DAILY FORUM > US PENTAGON CHIEF: WE'RE WITHIN "AN INCH OF WAR" ABOUT EVERY DAY IN EAST ASIA.

IMO will be US-China war iff China doesn't get formal sovereign control over TAIWAN.

* SAME > PYONGYANG'S SETBACK [Rocket Launch] OFFERS OPPORTUNITY FOR US "PIVOT". TO SOME EXTENT, NORTH KOREA HAS BEEN A DANGEROUS AND RESTIVE LITTLE BROTHER OF CHINA.

"Some"???

IIUC Artic, North Korea fears future irrelevancy once the US effec sets up BMD in Asia.

versus

* SAME > IMEPERIALIST UK [unfairly]CEDED THREE IRANIAN ISLANDS [to UAE]: FORMER DIPLOMAT.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Sino-Phil Scarborough Shoal spat]PHILIPPINES WARNS CHINA SHIP #310, aka Chin FLEC YUZHENG #310.

* SAME > PHILIPPINES DECIRES NEW ROW IN SOUTH CHINA SEAS DISPUTE.

* SAME > PHILIPPINES ASK CHINA: STOP ALL INCURSIONS IN SOUTH CHINA SEA NOW.

PHIL turn to ask = demand, but China is seemingly ignoring it. IMO BEIJING = CHINA WILL FIRE UPON OR SINK THE PHIL VESSEL(S) IFF ITS WARNINGS CONTINUE TO BE DISSED BY MANILA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2012-04-20 23:08  

#8  How do we desecrate pieces? Seriously, they blew themselves up, do we throw half-spleen onto a silver platter and present it like Top Chef?
Posted by: Charles   2012-04-20 13:36  

#7  We should have picked up the pieces, carefully wrapped them in bacon strips and buried the facing Antarctica.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC   2012-04-20 12:44  

#6  Indeed they are GB, and the list does not stop there.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-04-20 11:24  

#5  Screw that. Panetta, if the dead cared about themselves, they would have not blown themselves up. DO NOT pander to stupid crap. This is stupid crap and a waste of time.
Posted by: newc   2012-04-20 11:19  

#4  Besoeker

Speaking of cock-ups, let's throw in Iraq, Syria and Iran. The Brits sort of left the Kurds with no chair to sit in when the WW I music stopped.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC   2012-04-20 11:11  

#3  The irony of the Northern Ireland analogy. Both cock-ups, the creation of Great Britain.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-04-20 06:02  

#2  I think they all know the Afghanistan strategy is never going to work, and these soldiers just set themselves up to be scapegoats, in a long line of scapegoats.

I've read hundreds of reports that only refer to Afghans. There aint no such thing as an Afghan.

By way of comparison, I lived in Belfast in the 1970s, an arguably less divided society than the Ghan, but there was no term in general use that referred to a resident of N Ireland that didn't also refer to whether they were C or P.

An Afghan is an invention without substance.
Posted by: phil_b   2012-04-20 05:55  

#1  How do you desecrate something that was never consecrated in the first place?
Posted by: gorb   2012-04-20 02:24  

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